


How I Long For You

by RoksanaLyasin



Series: Dragon Age One Shots [9]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Cullen Rutherford Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Love Letters, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Cullen Rutherford, Prompt Fic, Romance, Sweet Cullen Rutherford, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 21:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11365767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoksanaLyasin/pseuds/RoksanaLyasin
Summary: Cullen relaxes with a walk on the battlements while he waits for his wicked rogue to return from a mission.





	How I Long For You

**Author's Note:**

> **Dragon Age Prompt** | [Click here to read it on Tumblr](https://roksanalyasin.tumblr.com/post/162454766802/for-dwc-prompt-5-for-cullen-romance).  
>  **“I’d wait forever, as long as I could be with you in the end.” for[@katalyna-rose](https://katalyna-rose.tumblr.com/) and [DWC @dadrunkwriting](http://dadrunkwriting.tumblr.com/).**  
>  **Rating:** Mature, for references.  
>  **Pairing:**

Cullen walks the battlements, breathing deeply of the cool evening air.  The sun is setting now, orange and pink hues painting the sunset above him, lighting his way over the cobblestone.  It’s a beautiful sight, to see Skyhold doused in such serenity, calming after a day of training the recruits and answering reports and missives. 

There’s a reason to be out her, apart from taking his evening stroll.  He knows he’ll have to tell Josephine eventually that he’s misplaced one of the more suggestive Orlesian letters. 

With a candle. 

But for now he is safe from her vicious glare and her sharp Antivan, and he watches as the ashes float towards the horizon, lips curling in a smile.  There’s only one Orlesian – though she is tempered by her fiery Tevinter blood – who’ll be calibrating his trebuchet anytime soon.     

He leans against the wall, the stone firm and reassuring beneath his arms, and closes his eyes.  He’s surrounded by memories here, some pleasant and some not so.  He recalls their argument first; it seems so long ago now, but it’s been mere months since Valina took him to task over his conflicting signals

_Cullen leant closer, barely an inch between them. 'What game are you playing?'_

_‘The game you want me to play, Commander,’ Valina said, and he felt the heat of her breath caress his lips, ‘you just keep changing the rules.’_

He can smile now, even laugh, despite the weight of the emotions he felt at the time, his mind besieged by more memories. 

He recalls their first kiss and all those that followed, the tender moments, and the intimate one they had shared mere feet from him on the opposite side of the wall.  A chuckle rumbles in his chest at the thought.  No matter how many times he stands here and recalls that night, the memory still makes him laugh and burn for her all at once.  Not in his wildest dreams or musings had he ever imagined he might almost be caught making love on the battlements.

_‘That would have caused quite the scandal. I can imagine the gossip at the court now: Ser Cullen Stanton Rutherford, Commander of the Inquisition, caught with his pants down on the battlements at Skyhold, balls deep in a Marquise’s daughter. There would be so many broken hearts in Orlais.’_

Even the memory of the husky note in her voice is enough to stir him, his body warming at the thought of her wicked smile, at the echo of her richly crafted accent that only ever slips for him, that only ever whispers curses and prayers in Tevene for him. 

He glances up at the soft flutter of wings, a raven landing beside him.  It fluffs its wings impatiently, tilting its head to look at him – confirming with its clever gaze that it found the right person – before it hops closer, placing the letter on his hand.  He accepts the missive before shooing the raven back to Leliana's tower, having no desire to be pecked at again; his arm still bears a mark from the last delivery.  

Cullen tears the envelope, unsure of why it didn’t merely drop the missive in his office, as they usually do, but when his eyes fall upon the neat script he understands, his heart soaring.

* * *

_Amatus,_

_I know I wrote to you only yesterday but after I received your letter I could not wait to reply.  I wish you had been able to come with me on this mission, but I know your duties at Skyhold are more pressing than ever, and that you would have loathed being in this palace again._

_It’s been easy to deal with the court.  They’re all terribly simple to read, as usual, and this game is hardly the entertaining affair it was in my youth, especially without you here for me to tease.  Remember that first night we met Amatus, in this very palace?  I thought you were going to set yourself alight, you blushed so hard when you asked me to dance.  But I digress; I’m sure the Inquisitor will be pleased to know I’ve secured another eight noble alliances in this trip alone._

_At least I was able to get out of my leathers for a night and cause a scandal with the dress Eve made for me.  It is stunning, and it did make a statement in the middle of those horrid pastels.  I won’t bore you with too many details, I know you have unpleasant memories of that red number that Josephine made you wear, but I will tell you that it is form-fitting in all the right places, sewn from a rich black velvet with serpentstone jewels woven through the bodice, and the back – why there hardly is one.  I promise to wear it for you when I return if only so you can help me take it off._

_I must get back to the party – I’ve lingered too long out here, and someone is sure to notice.  They are all desperate for attention._

_Don’t wait up for my return, Amatus.  I suspect I’ll be back in Skyhold in the early hours of the morning, the day after tomorrow, should travel be smooth.  I know it’s difficult to sleep with the nightmares, and I wish I could be with you to soothe you when you wake, but you must try to get some sleep.  Remember to take the tea that mother blended for you, and know that I am thinking about you - always._

_With all my love,_

_Valina._

* * *

Cullen stares at the letter, reading it over and over, his eyes lingering on the final paragraph.

_Don’t wait up for my return, Amatus._

He smirks at the sentence, already decided on where he will be spending his night on the eve she is due to return: at the gate, ready to catch her as she slides off her horse and into his arms.

Where she belongs. 

 _I’d wait forever,_ he thinks, taking a moment to glance up as the moon graces the sky, and knowing she will find a moment to look up with him, _as long as I could be with you in the end._

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments always appreciated <3


End file.
